Tamim's Barishal down Shakib’s Rangpur in much-anticipated BPL clash
There was a lot of hype around the match because two of Bangladesh's heavyweights - Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal - were up against each other for the first time after the latter's much-talked about axing from the World Cup squad.
Tamim Iqbal's Fortune Barishal knocked over Rangpur Riders in their much-anticipated Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2024 opener by five wickets at the Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
The match between two very strong sides could have been an entertaining spectacle but ended up being a pretty underwhelming one.
There was a lot of hype around the match because two of Bangladesh's heavyweights - Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal - were up against each other for the first time after the latter's much-talked about axing from the World Cup squad.
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It was not an ideal start for Shakib with the bat but Tamim, leading Fortune Barishal, did reasonably well as both captain and batter. Chasing a moderate 135, Tamim made an aggressive start, helping his team score 51-1 in the powerplay.
On the other hand, Shakib returned 4-0-16-2 but was jeered by spectators when he was bowling or fielding close to the boundary line.
Tamim hit five fours and a six in his 35 off 24 before Mohammad Nabi got him out.
Left-arm spinner Hasan Murad brought Rangpur back in the game with wickets of Soumya Sarkar and Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Shoaib Malik did well to take the game deep. Shakib got Mushfiqur (26 off 27) out in the 17th over but it was not a very difficult job for Barishal's long batting line-up.
Malik, who earlier in the day revealed his marriage to actress Sana Javed, was unbeaten on 17 and Mahmudullah on 19 when Barishal completed the chase with five deliveries in hand.
Fast bowler Khaled Ahmed picked up a four-wicket haul to restrict Rangpur to 134-9 after their 20 overs after a poor start.
Mohammad Imran, on BPL debut and his 24th birthday, struck in his very first ball by getting rid of Brandon King.
Khaled snared two scalps in the next over which included the one of Shakib (2 off 3), who has been suffering from an eye problem.
Skipper Nurul Hasan (23 off 23) and Shamim Hossain (34 off 33), the duo who did well in the warm-up fixture ahead of the tournament, tried to do some rebuilding.
In-form all-rounder Mahedi Hasan hit some lusty blows in his cameo of 19-ball-29.
Apart from Khaled's heroics, Miraz picked up a couple.
